devil of a



devil of a

Also, one devil or the devil of a ; hell of a. Infernally annoying or difficult, as in This is a devil of an assembly job, or She had one devil of a time getting through the traffic, or I had a hell of a morning sitting in that doctor's office. The first expression dates from the mid-1700s. The variant is a couple of decades newer and its precise meaning depends on the context. For example, We had a hell of a time getting here invariably means we had a very difficult or annoying time, but He is one hell of a driver could mean that he is either very good or very bad (see hell of a, def. 2).
See also: devil, of

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Malie-Hawaiian
CodyKO-deeEnglish, Irish
Jerome[dʒə'rəum]
Whatley['hwɔtli]
Bennie['beni]
Lakishalə-KISH-əAfrican American